Vaccine Impacts Smoking

Author: Susan Farley

A new nicotine vaccine that has
proven safe and well-tolerated results in
increased nicotine abstinence when
taken at higher doses. The vaccine works
by triggering the production of antibodies
that bind to nicotine, thereby creating
a complex too large to pass through
the blood-brain barrier. In an effort to
test the safety of an experimental nicotine
vaccine known as NicVAX, 68 smokers
randomly received a placebo or 50-,
100-, or 200-microgram doses of the vaccine.
Doses were administered on days
0, 28, 56, and 182, and participants were
followed for 38 weeks. Patients were not
instructed to quit smoking unless they
felt like quitting. Of the 56 people who
completed the study, 6 people taking the
highest dose abstained from smoking for
30 days, compared with only one taking
the 100-microgram dose, none taking the
50-microgram dose, and 2 participants
taking the placebo. Those taking the
highest dose also took the least amount
of time to achieve 30-day abstinence.
Side effects, which were mild, were the
same for those in the NicVAX group and
for those taking the placebo. Researchers
anticipated withdrawal symptoms
and cravings as side effects, but no
one reported these symptomswhich
may have been due to the gradual
increase in antibody concentrations.